Culture

This article originally appeared on Avvo.US politicians have suddenly woken up and realized—finally—that something has to be done about mass incarceration.
At the end of my chapter “Mass Incarceration: Young Men Locked Up, Locked Out” in my book Swagger, I wrote:

For a city that defines itself on innovation and creativity, Seattle is no stranger to art. Take our new rainbow crosswalks, our monthly neighborhood art walks, 4Culture’s many community art programs, and the dozens of galleries spanning the city, including the 82-year-old Seattle Art Museum.

Primed for Success?: Despite the mixed reaction to Amazon’s first Prime Day, including thousands of #PrimeDayFail jokes on Twitter, Amazon announced that it sold more on July 15 than it did on Black Friday last year.

Must FestHead East for the Annual Kirkland Uncorked(7/17 to 7/19, times vary) This three-day summer food and wine festival takes over the scenic Marina Park on Lake Washington and features everything from wine tasting to dog modeling to a burger brawl, where chefs bust out every foodie ingredient necessary to win bragging rights as the Eastside’s best burger.

The cool calm of Green Lake has always attracted Seattleites looking to take a break from the headaches of city living, and a deeper serenity comes to the tranquil basin this month with “From Hiroshima to Hope.” The 31st annual lantern-lighting ceremony commemorates those killed by atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 70 years ago this month, as well as other victims of violence across the globe.

The Big One: Seen this New Yorker article posted on Facebook yet? Are you convinced you and everything you love will be reduced to rubble by The Earthquake to End All Earthquakes? Well, you're not alone (Seriously, take a scroll through Twitter. Everyone's terrified).

Anyone who negotiates Seattle on a regular basis asks at some point: Why can’t we just get around? It’s easy to blame geography—squeezed as Seattle is on a narrow, hilly hourglass isthmus surrounded by water—for our city’s transportation woes. But it’s much more complicated than that.
By complicated I mean that some basic, and not always pretty, elements of human nature have come into play to give us what we know today. And a little history and perspective are helpful as the $930 million transportation ballot measure, Move Seattle, heads for the November ballot.

Berit Anderson stretched the frontiers of community-based journalism during her four-year tenure as managing editor of online journal Crosscut. With her new media company, she blows them into outer space.

Do you fondly remember the days of aces and stuff blocks on your intramural college volleyball team? Did you once single-handedly vanquish your opponents in eighth grade P.E. pickleball? Maybe you're curious to see if you can still hit a free throw or manage to put a little back spin on a ping pong serve. Maybe you've never played badminton in your life but kind of want to try.

Presumably, one of the cool things about being Paul Allen is having enough money to fund all of your interests. The Microsoft cofounder has invested heavily in his hobbies, including planes (Flying Heritage Collection), brains (Allen Institute for Brain Science), music, sci-fi and moviegoing (EMP Museum and Cinerama). But he’s also an avid art collector, which explains why his company, Vulcan Inc., is coproducing the inaugural Seattle Art Fair.